Why 2018 isn’t the ‘year of the woman’ in NC

Milton Ready Courtesy photo

BY MILTON READY

Psst! Have you heard that, politically, 2018 is the year of the woman? That #MeToo also means that women will take back their rights as well as their nights?

That more are running for political office than ever before, not only nationally, but also in North Carolina, where a total of 97 women — 65 Democrats and 32 Republicans — are running for legislative office? For those General Assembly seats, that means 38 percent of the Democratic candidates are women, and 19 percent of the Republican candidates are women.

Still, don’t get too excited. After all, this is North Carolina, and even if every woman running were elected, the gender gap still would not be closed. North Carolina will remain a male-dominated state politically, especially in rural parts of the state. Remember, North Carolina has the second-highest rural population of any state, behind only macho, belt-buckled Ted Crazy Texas, my home state.

If you want to be really historical about the gender gap in North Carolina and the nation’s, it’s probably going to worsen after the 2018 midterm elections, no matter how celebratory a few congressional, gubernatorial, state or local victories. Why? Think a post-Trump bump, a Brett Kavanaugh backlash, a Hillary hangover and a residual misogyny activated by the #MeToo movement that seemed to threaten mostly white males.

Like snakes hiding just below the surface waiting to strike, latent misogyny in North Carolina and elsewhere will be reborn this election cycle and, no, it’s not just men doing it. Never underestimate the misogyny of women, especially if they’re Southern. After all that has happened since 2016, surely mothers and fathers will tell their daughters to go into business or accounting rather than politics.

The high mark for women in North Carolina came in 2008 when Elizabeth Dole and Kay Hagan ran for the Senate, and more women served in elected office than ever before, if briefly. Afterward? Read a report released last month by David McLennan of Meredith College, The Status of Women in North Carolina Politics, and you’ll find that, since 2014, the percentage of women running in 2018, except for Republican women, actually is lower than in 2014, well before Hillary’s candidacy. Moreover, women who live in rural counties have lost political representation (never great) since 2014. The number of counties where no women are serving on boards of commissioners has increased from 44 to 46, while only three of North Carolina’s 100 boards have a majority of women.

Yet perhaps the most dismaying aspect of McLennan’s assessment lies in one continuing trend: North Carolina elects or appoints few women to power positions such as mayors, boards of commissioners, law enforcement, city and county managers and city councils. Sheriffs? North Carolina currently has one — Susan Johnson of Currituck County, who is not running again in 2018; only two others, B.J. Bayne of Polk County and Paula Dance of Pitt County, currently are running for sheriff. Historically, North Carolina has executed more women than elected them sheriffs.

Mayors? Only six of the 28 largest cities such as Charlotte and Asheville have woman mayors and few otherwise. Indeed, when it comes to women in power positions, historically Asheville is the one-off exception in North Carolina. Yet we like women involved in health, social services, tourism and education, and also on lots of “advisory” boards, but let’s keep them in nurturing and touchy-feely positions appropriate to the “weaker” sex. Oh, yes, they’re fine as clerks of Superior Court and registers of deeds, largely administrative positions that require appropriate “skills.” Really now, when will Haywood County have women candidates for anything except clerks and registers?

Yet, would having a few more women as sheriffs, district attorneys or even state representatives make a difference? Or more than one on a board or else they’ll never be heard? Would things be better? Different? Would North Carolina be more progressive or conservative? Consider this. Overall, women represent the same spectrum of political views as men. Think Sarah Palin or Nancy Pelosi or Sue Myrick or Kay Hagan here. Would things go better?

Regardless of their parties, women generally tend to bring a different set of attitudes toward issues as well as meetings. For example, they often are more open, collaborative, cooperative, and, yes, even listening and transparent. Then, too, they commonly are more sensitive to issues focusing on the environment, social services, education and health care than men. Think the opioid crisis and family services here. Moreover, women might even have new proposals on health care that stymies our mostly male congressmen and state representatives in the General Assembly. Additionally, it seems that, if more women run for office, then so do more people of color and the young. Still, until North Carolinians elect and appoint more women to power positions, we’ll never know if things would change.

Last, let’s blame women for all this. Everyone does. After all, they won’t run, and this is a democracy, isn’t it? It seems that when women consider running for public office, they often do it while folding laundry or doing dishes, an internal debate few men have. But why so few? These days, we have embraced a modern form of mother-worship where we imagine all women want to be mothers. In truth, there likely is no intrinsic value to becoming or not becoming a mother, but we nevertheless exalt soccer, helicopter and tiger moms while, with ever-increasing abortion restrictions, we almost coerce women into motherhood, if temporarily. As such, women now face more socially and culturally restrictive roles than before 2015.

Additionally, with fewer women representatives as mentors or role models, especially in local offices that represent steppingstones, there are fewer in the political pipeline. Finally, prominent women who have served need to be more vocal about the importance of bringing women into the process. Let’s all make women reappear instead of disappear politically and the “year of the woman” commonplace and not just about 2018.

Retired UNC Asheville history professor Milton Ready lives in Tryon.

 

SHARE

Thanks for reading through to the end…

We share your inclination to get the whole story. For the past 25 years, Xpress has been committed to in-depth, balanced reporting about the greater Asheville area. We want everyone to have access to our stories. That’s a big part of why we've never charged for the paper or put up a paywall.

We’re pretty sure that you know journalism faces big challenges these days. Advertising no longer pays the whole cost. Media outlets around the country are asking their readers to chip in. Xpress needs help, too. We hope you’ll consider signing up to be a member of Xpress. For as little as $5 a month — the cost of a craft beer or kombucha — you can help keep local journalism strong. It only takes a moment.

Before you comment

The comments section is here to provide a platform for civil dialogue on the issues we face together as a local community. Xpress is committed to offering this platform for all voices, but when the tone of the discussion gets nasty or strays off topic, we believe many people choose not to participate. Xpress editors are determined to moderate comments to ensure a constructive interchange is maintained. All comments judged not to be in keeping with the spirit of civil discourse will be removed and repeat violators will be banned. See here for our terms of service. Thank you for being part of this effort to promote respectful discussion.

12 thoughts on “Why 2018 isn’t the ‘year of the woman’ in NC

  1. Jay

    It will never be the Year of the women in North Carolina as long as the majority of women belong to a male dominated faith (CHRISTIAN) that purposely chooses oppresses them!!!! These Women hold the hand that holds them down….

  2. Lillian Warren

    As long as rape, pedophiles and abuse happens, it won’t change.
    As a woman persecuted for blowing the whistle on corruption in this county, I don’t see it changing ever.

    Corrupt men and women unable to consider how their actions affect others.
    Cruel truth.
    They just don’t care .
    If it doesn’t happen to them, it doesn’t exist.

      • Jay

        Omg ur so obsessed with Wanda green that going to make that much of an ignorant statement !?

        • Lulz

          LOL OMG because like if we like forget about it then it never happened lulz and then leftist can then focus on how bad everyone else is. But for some odd reason if this were a conservative area and it happened, you’d somehow think differently. Hold conservatives to higher standards and hold your own ideological scum to none. Standard issue for people like yourself.

          When government garbage can evict you from your house for taxes and yet turn around and use the money for their own greed and you think it’s a joke, something is wrong with your thinking,. And that women can literally be corrupt scumbags and giving them free passes does no one any favors. They’re just as bad as men when it comes to criminality.

  3. MindLeftOpen

    NC Republicans received 50.3% of the Congressional votes cast, yet they won 10 of the 13 seats. None of this will change until the Tea Party Legislature is forced by the Federal courts to redraw the district lines. Or, hopefully, the power to draw districts is stripped away from that undeniably corrupt, power-driven hoard of miscreants.

  4. Ted Pearce

    Identity politics is the bane of American existence. So you’re going to tell us that women are discriminated against simply because they are female, and have no chance to win an election if their opponent sports a penis? And who is the sexist here? If it were truly a “discrimination” problem based on sex there would be no women in any office anywhere. Are American citizens so stupid we can’t choose someone based on their ability to tackle a job? People of both sexes are looking out for #1. PEOPLE can do whatever PEOPLE want to do, regardless of race, color, religion, etc if they simply are persistent and determined. There will ALWAYS be challenges to overcome (for all PEOPLE) but blaming failure on race, color, religion, etc is a loser’s excuse. A woman may have more challenges to overcome in some areas than a man, but being female can also be used as an advantage in some other cases. There is no “one size fits all” solution to life’s challenges, nor is there a way to legislate fairness. Life is rarely fair. Those who succeed just accept it and work through the challenges. I support the person who does that best without excuse.

Leave a Reply to Lillian Warren ×

To leave a reply you may Login with your Mountain Xpress account, connect socially or enter your name and e-mail. Your e-mail address will not be published. All fields are required.